mom jeans's Profile

My boyfriend and I dined there earlier this year and were both very pleased with our meal. I think it was worth the menu prices, but the cab ride out there pushed it into "possibly not worth it" territory. Because of how secluded the restaurant is, the cab ride isn't cheap, but if you're renting a car or have another way of getting to the restaurant I definitely recommend it. You've probably already had this recommended to you, but we also greatly enjoyed Deckman's.

Our stay was excellent and I whole heartily recommend this hotel. The cabin (for lack of a better term) was on par with high end hotels in terms of comfort and amenities. It was great coming back after our long day of wine tasting to relax on our cabin's private patio, which had great views of the valley and felt isolated from the rest of the cabins. We had no problems with the walkie talkie system the hotel uses, and someone quickly came out to light our chiminea so we could enjoy that during the evening. Karla, the manager, prearranged taxi service for our day of wine tasting and made her own suggestions, which were essentially identical to the itinerary I set at home. She didn't try to steer us to LA Cetto or any of the bigger wineries; instead, she recommended Las Nubes, Hacienda La Lomita, and Vinos Pijoan (amongst many others we just didn't have time for). At each of these, we got great one on one time with the people running the tastings, and weren't just rushed along as part of a giant tour. The rest of the staff at Endemico were just as friendly. The only part I can't speak to is the food on site; I was much too hungover to partake in my free breakfast the next day, hah. I can't wait to go back. Strangely, I've checked the hotel's booking site and it claims to be booked out well into next year. Not sure if you just have to contact them directly now or if they really are so popular they've booked out that far in advance.

If you can't get into Hotel Endemido, I would just as highly recommend La Villa del Valle. It's more secluded, so it lends itself more to staying on the property, which isn't such a bad thing since El Corazon del Tierra is an amazing restaurant. It was just as comfortable and picturesque, and the manager and owners are great people. The transmission on my car blew out the day before we left, and the manager was incredibly helpful and provided assistance translating with a local mechanic and the representative from the Mexican insurance company. The owners even gave my boyfriend and I a free bottle of wine from their personal stash to make us feel a little better. I would definitely stay there again, but next time opt to hire a taxi for driving around the valley. Of course, this is moot if you have a high clearance vehicle.

Pardon my lack of brevity here, and if you have anything else you're wondering about, let me know. I hope you have a great trip!

I'm going down to Baja this weekend for my birthday, and I'm going to be spending Sunday in the Valle de Guadalupe staying at Hotel Endemico. Last time I was down there, I drove myself around, but this time I'd like to have someone do the driving for us. Can anyone recommend a good car service for a day of wine tastings? Fluent English isn't necessary, but would be a bonus. I'm mostly hoping it's not too tall of an order to find someone who is familiar with the area that I can just give a list of a couple wineries and have them take it from there.

I'm glad to see this place get a positive dinner review. I work in Old Town, so having it open for lunch on Thursday and Friday has been a blessing, but I worry that their location won't get them good foot traffic.

If anyone is in the area for lunch on Th/F, they have a nice lunch buffet that only costs $8. It's not a huge buffet in the Hometown tradition. Instead, they feature a couple different salads - one build your own, two premade (think greens with apples and raisins, lightly dressed), one or two mayo based (macaroni). There's also some wheels of cheese out to dress the salads with, a changing side dish, a pasta, potato wedges, and a slab of beef rotating on a skewer.

The kale salad is also excellent, and they serve a great roast beef sandwich made from real carved beef, not the processed deli slices most places use.

I'm trying to organize a birthday dinner for a group of 12 or so, and would prefer one of the restaurants in the Convoy area. The group has very open tastes and can handle spicy well, but I don't think most of the usual places I like up there (Izakaya Sakura, Ba Ren [RIP], etc) could accommodate a group of this size. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Sorry, that word choice was probably a little too severe. In my head, it sounded more joking/slightly sarcastic :) The meal was among the best of my life, but I was definitely feeling stuffed near the end. Overall, the experience was amazing, one I wouldn't trade for anything, and all of the dishes were well executed and delicious. Next time, I'd just opt for a shorter tasting or just order from the menu.

My boyfriend and I endured the 8 course tasting this past weekend for a belated Valentine's day dinner. It cost $70/person, and with a couple rounds of cocktail and tip, the bill came out to about $200USD even.

Where in CV is Kagama? Google wasn't much help in getting me more info. I've heard of restaurants in San Diego with similar rumors surrounding them, but they've always turned out to be exaggerations and urban legends.

the smoking goat: pulled pork - excellent, but sadly they were out of cornbread when i stopped by; cole slaw - i liked that it wasn't drowning in mayo, but it could've had more of a bite to it

sea rocket bistro: fish jerky - good, but i was hoping for something more exciting from them. oh well.

il postino: trio of pasta dishes - i can't even remember specifically what they were, other than one being a marinara sauce, but they were decent. good enough that i'd want to check that restaurant out and try other dishes.

urban solace: duckaroni - i thought it was better than a previous time i'd had it there. i forgot what the dessert was, but some friends of mine were raving about a s'more-esque dessert they had. i went to urban solace last right before the event was over, so i'm assuming that dish was served earlier in the day and they had run out - especially if it was as amazing as it was made out to be.

rancho's: assorted spread - this was the only place to offer a full on plate of food, as opposed to the tastes most other places were offering. specifically, they had rolled tacos, soy ceviche, and another dish i forgot.

mosaic wine bar: pizza with baked peach and blue cheese - i thought this pizza was delicious and so did my companion. one of our favorite dishes of the day.

urbn coal fired pizza: various pizzas - by the time we arrived at the end of the day, the selection was pretty picked over and didn't look very appetizing. i also didn't find the space very appealing, being so stark and severe, but i could see others going for it.

ritual tavern: i can't for the life of me remember what we had here, but i do remember enjoying it.

sorry a lot of these descriptions are rather, um, vague, but after trying all that food, it's kinda like sensory overload and difficult to remember specific details. on the walk home, my friend and i were in actual physical pain from all the eating and drinking.